October 21, 1869. ] 



JOUENAL OF HOBTICULTTJRE AND COTTAGE GABDENEB. 



32 



the pftoicles of flowers. After brief allnBion to Cattleya exoniensis as 

 being aneqaalled in the delicacy of itfi flowers, Mr. Bateman drew 

 attention to a beanttfal epecriiueB of Barkeria Skiimeri, from Mr. 

 Williarafl. and stated that tbo great secret of snccess in the coltivation 

 of this plant, is to grow it on pieces of board so as to expose its roots 

 to the air, not in earth, which is an abomination to it. A new Cvpri- 

 pediom, from Costa Rica, was then noticed as being of good habit and 

 prodaeing as manj as forty or fifty flowers on a stem, bnt unfor- 

 tonately not at one time, for before a second flower comes out the firet 

 is on the point of departare. The Avocado Pear, Messrs. Sutton's 

 Potatoes, and the Currant Tomatoes shown at the previous meeting, 

 were then briefly referred to, Mr. Batsman remarking of the last that 

 they were most excellent. 



Mr. Blenkins drew attention to a seedlin;; Walnut, from Mr. Cox, 

 which had been exhibited last year, bnt which had on this occasion 

 arrived too late to be submitted to the Committee. The nuts were 

 more elongated than the commoa, the shell very thin, and the flavonr 

 good. 



The next meeting will b« held November 16th, on which occasion 

 prizes are ofifered by W. TTilson Saanders, Esq., for collections of 

 winter bedding planU in pots or boxes, and by the Society for large- 

 flowering and Pompon Chrysanthemums, for cut blooms of Chrysan- 

 themums, and for plants in pots bearing decorative fruits. 



WAYSroE JOTTINGS.— No. 2. 

 Shoetly after my visit to the locality described in my last 

 budget of notes (see page 138), I was induced to examine 

 another piece of bog land nearly a couple of miles from the 

 shore of the Solway Prith, about a dozen acres in extent, and 

 known as Hanging-Show Moss, situated towards the western 

 extremity of the exteD!>ive parish of Holme Cultram. 



On approaching the Moas I was much struck with the geolo- 

 gical feitures of the turrounding district. All round were to 

 be seen sandy eminences or hummocks, in shape not unlike 

 the segment of a sphere ; between their bases lay strips of 

 bog land, apparently landlocked among tbeee hills in such 

 a manner as to render the drainage of them a matter of diffi- 

 culty as well as of expense. The contrast between the botanical 

 productions of the hills and of the intervening bogs was very 

 marked. 



In the narrow sandy Uaes were large quantities of the 

 wild PdDsy, the flowers being of all shades of colour from deep 

 violet to almost pure white, and intermingled along the hedge- 

 banka in the most pleasing manner. The hedges themselves 

 were gorgeously bedecked with the bright yellow blossoms of 

 Furze and Broom, striring as if for the ma'tery, and entirely 

 throwing into the shade the straggling patches of Hawthorn, 

 of which the original fence had no doubt mainly consisted. 

 I do not recollect ever beforo having seen the Gorse in such 

 profusion of blossom, and I fully sympathised with the feelings 

 of Linnsens on seeing this common EngHsh shrnb in bloom 

 for the first time. Among other plants conspicuous in the 

 hedgerows was the common Burnet Bose CRosa spinosissima) ; 

 while deeply rooted among the loose sand of the bedgebanks 

 were some fine specimens of the Storksbill (Erodium cicuta- 

 rinm). In one place not far from the hamlet of New Cooper, I 

 found specimens of a small cruciferone plant, not at all common 

 in the neighbonrbood — .he Teesdalia nudicaulis ; and at the 

 next turn of the lane I discovered another plant, to which 1 was 

 almost equally a stranger — Thymus Acinos, or Basil Thyme. 

 Of this last I could only find a single patch of not more than 

 lulf a dozen plants. 



On arriving at the Mors, I found some labourers at work 

 digging peats for winter fuel. Observing that I was busy 

 collecting herbs, one of the men came gravely up to me, and 

 begged that I would prescribe for him, ae he declared himself 

 quite a martyr to rheumatism. I had great difficulty in per- 

 saading the simple-minded tnrfcntter that I was not a com- 

 pounder of potions of the Dr. Coffin type, but merely an in- 

 quirer into the works of Mature as presented in the Moss from 

 which he was cutting peats. In an abandoned peat-pot hard 

 by I pointed out to him where the pretty little Marsh Violet 

 (Tiola palustriFj, was in blossom, and asked him to compare 

 it with the common Dog Violet, growing on the bank by 

 his cottage door, with which he persisted that it mast be 

 identical. 



Leaving him to resume his work, I strolled across the bog, 

 which was very plentifully eorinkled over with the shining 

 leaves of White Il.)t (Hydroeotyle vulgaris). Cotton Grass (Erio- 

 phorum), of at least t«o varieties, and Ma^^h Cinquefoil (Coma- 

 mm painstre). The pretty but diminutive blossoms of the 

 Cranberry (Vaociniam Oiyoocoufc), were tolerably plentiful in 



one part, while the star-like tufts formed by the fringed leaves 

 of the Sundew (Drosera rotundifolia), not yet in flower, were to 

 be seen in another- At the lower end of ihe Moss, again, like 

 a clump of low Willows, was a considerable bed of Myriea 

 Gale, or the Bog Myrtle, the leaves of which emit a strong and 

 not anpleasant odour when crumbed in the hand. The Little 

 Bog Stitchwort (Stellaria nliginosa), grew in some of the more 

 spongy parts of the bog, the examination of which yielded me 

 a degree of pleasure which amply compensated me for the exer- 

 tion of walking some four or five miles to pay it a visit.— H. 



DELAWARE PEACHES. 

 Among the first Peach orchards planed in this State were 

 those of Mr. Ridgway, near Delaware City, jp 1833 ; Major Rey- 

 bold's, in 1838; and Mr. Spearman, in J<eweastle County, in 

 1838. 



Mr. Todd, of Dover, planted the first orchard in that 

 vicinity, in 1840. During that season one orchard of about 

 forty acres realised a profit of about 9000 dollars, and this fact 

 started the great Peach excitement, which stiU exists, and so 

 far has resulted in the planting of about two million trees in 

 Delaware and on the eastern shore of Marj'land. They consist of 

 the following varieties : — Hale's Early, Tioth's Eorly, Early 

 York, Crawford's Early, Reeve's Favourite, Old Mixon, Ward's 

 Late, Fox's Seedhng. Crawford Late, Delaware White, Patter- 

 son's and Freeman's White, and Smock Yellow. The Peaches 

 ripen on these trees in the order given above, and therefore a 

 good supply is kept up from about the 20th or 26th of July imtil 

 nearly the close of September. After planting the trees, the 

 ground h cultivated in com for three years, but after that the 

 trees shade the earth to such an extent that it will not pay to 

 plant any k nd of crop. The ground, however, has to be well 

 cultivated every year, and manured, if the trees are expected to 

 bear well and live any length of time. It has often been stated 

 that the trees will not bear to any extent more than four or six 

 years; but the most intell'gent a"d experienced gentlemen in 

 the business say that the trees will remain profitable for fifteen 

 or twenty years, and that the orchards which die out in six 

 years do so because they have not received proper care and 

 culture. 



Land is now selling in Caroline County at firom 10 to 25 dollais 

 per acre. 



The orchards in Delaware occupy from 40 to 1 000 acres each, 

 and when the trees are from six to eight years old, from 3 to 

 4 bushels of Peaches will be gathered in a season from each tree, 

 but the general average is about 2 bushels which in a season 

 like the present will realise from three to three and a half mil- 

 lions of dollars. On 150 trees of Early Troth, planted near 

 Middletown, 700 baskets were realised this season. The ship- 

 ments from this station amount now to 5000 baskets per day. 

 About 120 of the orchards in Delaware wera sold at an early 

 date to speculators, at from 40 to 50 c°nts per basket, in Kent 

 County, and 50 cents Newcastle County, the owner of the 

 orchard having the Peaches picked and delivered at the nearest 

 station. 



So far as the early Peaches are concerned, the parties wh» 

 sold their orchards have had the best of it, as those who shipped 

 their Peaches to a market have not realisi-d much profit, and in 

 some cases they suilered a loss. The Peaches were small, in 

 consequence of the great number on the trees and the dry 

 weather, and thus they were sold at a lower rate than usual. 

 The Peaches to he shipped after these, and from then until the 

 close of the season, will be large and fine, and then the grower 

 expects to realise his profit. Mr. S. Townsend, below Middle- 

 town, has 40,000 trees of the different varieties, and all of them 

 are as full of Peaches as the limbs of tt e trees will bear. 



It is estimated that at least 3000 men, women, and children 

 are now engaged in Delaware in gathering the crop. Men are 

 paid 1 dollar per day and boarded, or Ij dollar if they board 

 themselves. Women and children receive about half of the 

 above rates. Employment is also given to a large number of 

 persons in various parts of the country in 'he making of baskets 

 and crates, the former costing from 20 to 35 cents each, and the 

 latter 20 cents each. 



The Peaches reach PhUadtlphia and New York in better order 

 than in former years, in consequence of the recent improvements 

 made in ventilation, particularly in the cars belonging to the 

 Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore liailroad. 



To give tho reader some idea of this great business, we pro- 

 cured the following statement of the number of car loads sent 



